Nationalized production is usually something to discourage for the same reason monopolies and oligopolies should be discouraged--they are insulated from competi

Nationalized production is usually something to discourage for the same reason monopolies and oligopolies should be discouraged--they are insulated from competition in special ways, and as a result in the long run they tend to become inefficient (which in the worst case translates to basically extorting customers). The root of the problem with American drug companies is that they're insulated from open market competition by a government approvals process that costs billions--only a few companies have enough money to take a new drug to market. The government could reform this process but chooses not to, claiming it's necessary for consumer safety (certainly some kind of approvals process is).